I was curious about the largest size you would recommend for my D40. Obviously picture must be sharp and all but I was wondering your thoughts on going past 1024 with this not-so-much professional camera.

Post some of the images in the Feedback forum, and you will find out quickly, though going above 1024 is generally not recommended for beginners. You'll also find your camera type is less important than the lens attached to it and the skill of the person using it.

Quoting NWA330nut (Reply 2):If you could expand on what you mean by skills necessary

The knowledge and experience on how to use your camera to get the best from it. The camera and lens are there to gather and record the light, it's the photographer that composes a photo and creates a photo. It's the quality of the glass that's more important than the camera body. A good quality lens on a basic body can outperform a poor quality lens on a top spec body but as dlowwa mntions, it's the person using the equipment that's the most important. I would start with the camera manual and a good photography book. You at least need to understand the exposure triangle and how adjusting one aspect of it effects the others. You also need a basic grasp of photo editing software and post-processing. You need a quality photo to begin with though. No amount of post-processing can make up for poor photography.

Thank you for the reply. I'm not sure if people think that I'm "inexperienced" because of the camera I have or what. Yes, a D40 is well out of date and very basic but it in no way, shape of form means that I don't know what I'm doing. Honestly, it does the exact thing as other cameras, it just doesn't have all the bells and whistles. My question is about the sensor.

Let me rephrase my question,

What is the largest size that someone has been able to upload onto this site with a "lower" resolution camera? I am not looking for a bragging match, but what people have found to be acceptable to the screeners from a camera that has the same range of resolution.

Quoting NWA330nut (Reply 4):What is the largest size that someone has been able to upload onto this site with a "lower" resolution camera? I am not looking for a bragging match, but what people have found to be acceptable to the screeners from a camera that has the same range of resolution.

With good glass, a good photographer would easily be able to get a large-resolution image uploaded from a 6MP sensor. The only thing a sensor with fewer megapixels will limit is the amount of cropping you can do. If you have a high-quality image that fills the frame (i.e. little to no cropping necessary), it shouldn't matter if you have 6, 10, or 18 MP on the sensor.

The real question is why are you worried about what's the largest resolution you can upload? Is your real question is the D40 good enough to take photos that will be accepted? If that's what you're trying to ask, then the answer is the same as above: with a good lens and in capable hands, it is easily good enough.

Quoting NWA330nut (Reply 6):I also like to view large pictures, just a preference I suppose.

Same here, which is why my "standard" upload size is 1200.

Quoting NWA330nut (Reply 4):What is the largest size that someone has been able to upload onto this site with a "lower" resolution camera?

Well, mine's as low-res as you can get in a modern Canon DSLR (Rebel XS with 10MP). I'd say most of my photos are uploaded at 1200, then there's a bunch at 1280, a bunch at 1024, and a few at 1400. But it takes a good capture + filling most of the frame for 1400 to be feasible. I haven't tried 1600 and don't think I will anytime soon.

Just as an example, this image was right around 3430 pixels wide before resizing:

Quoting NWA330nut (Reply 6):I was interested in knowing because I know that many people like to use pictures from the internet as a desktop and such and I also like to view large pictures, just a preference I suppose.

You prefer larger sizes for your own viewing, or to share with others through uploading here? If the former, then yes, more megapixels will help you achieve an end-result that is higher resolution. If the latter, I would suggest changing that mindset, as the acceptance rate for images drops almost exponentially the closer you get to 1600pix, the largest allowable upload size here. I would hazard a guess that for every 100 photos I screen, perhaps only 1 or 2 1600pix images are accepted.